DAP thanks Sarawak state government for helping to pay Ho Leng's bill

KUCHING: DAP appreciates the swift response of the state government to help pay the medical bill of its cancer-stricken Bukit Assek assemblyman Wong Ho Leng.

Its state chairman Chong Chieng Jen said he wrote to State Legislative Assembly Speaker Datuk Amar Mohd Asfia Awang Nassar on Wednesday to forward Wong’s bill for his treatment in a Singapore hospital, which amounted to about S$570,000 (RM1.47mil).

“The next day the decision was made. It’s good that the government not only subsidised the bill but made a very quick decision. It helps the family a lot,” he told reporters here.

Chief Minister Tan Sri Adenan Satem had told the House in his winding-up speech on Thursday that the state government would fork out RM1mil to assist Wong’s family in paying the bill.

Chong also said his letter to Asfia was the second one he had written to seek the state government’s assistance. The first was sent on April 5 with half the bill, which was still running then as Wong was still being treated in Singapore.

“Twenty days later, on April 25, during a press conference Adenan said the state government agreed to help pay the bill but no amount was mentioned because we did not know the full cost then. Thereafter Wong was discharged from the hospital in Singapore on April 27 and came back to Sibu. I then requested the full bill from his wife, which was for his treatment from Jan 13 to April 27,” Chong said.